


how to adopt an alien in five minutes or less

by melody_fox



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Gen, and sanvers cause i miss them, but also supercorp, i really just wanted to write Kara as a mom honestly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22221643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melody_fox/pseuds/melody_fox
Summary: Kara finds a stray, falls in love with him, and takes him home.Otherwise known as Kara Danvers Is The Best Mom To All Baby Aliens And She Should Have More Scenes With Them In The Show
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers & J'onn J'onzz | Hank Henshaw, Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers & James "Jimmy" Olsen, Kara Danvers & Winn Schott Jr., Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 116
Kudos: 423





	1. streaky 2.0

**Author's Note:**

  * For [butimaloneandfree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/butimaloneandfree/gifts).



> for Jess
> 
> thanks for the support i never would have actually written this otherwise :)

When Winn first asked Kara if she believed aliens were real, her first thought was that now she was going to have to quit her job, cut ties with everyone here at CatCo and run away to Canada. Being an alien was not exactly the easiest thing to hide, and it hurt in her very soul to do so, but here on Earth, there hadn’t seemed to be any other option at the time.

The few moments between when he dropped that unintentional bomb and then proceeded to divulge his interest and love for the unknown, for those beyond the reaches of human technology, her heart rate slowed a little. And with time, she came to realize that Winn hadn’t known, he hadn’t figured her secret out. He was just a curious young man with a passion for the unusual.

And she was unusual. Kara had known the minute she landed on Earth that nothing about her life would ever be ordinary again. 

And for years, for thirteen years, Kara hid everything about herself. She became Kara Danvers, and she left Kara Zor-El behind in the pod Clark found her in. Kara Danvers was in many ways a fictional being behind which she hid. But only to some degree. Kara Danvers was human. She lost her parents in a terrible house fire. She was born in Springville, California, on the 5th of June, 1991. Or so all her fake documentation says.

Kara Zor-El didn’t fit on Earth. Her loss of an entire planet, a culture, a race, was not something that anyone on Earth was prepared to handle. Least of all Kara.

And so she hid. Both her Kryptonian self and her memories from Krypton. Planets she had visited were locked away in the back of her mind. Languages she had practiced with her aunt were frozen on her tongue, as dead as the planet she’d come from. The traditions and practices that her family and people had once held so dear were never to be spoken of again. No one could know.

And if all of the warnings from the Danvers weren’t enough to scare her into hiding, all she had to do was look at the way humans were treating people of their own race with a different color skin. If they couldn’t be kind to and accept the very people with which they shared blood, DNA, and history, how would they ever come to accept her for who she really was?

And that was how it was for many years. Kara hid, and Kara lied. And it worked.

And then Alex had nearly died on that plane. And Kara threw all of that out the window. Every warning running through her head as her feet bounded down the alleyway, hoping and praying that the flight this yellow sun had gifted her would still be there after so many years of not being used. Alex was in danger and Kara could help. She could help in ways that no one else could.

And that became her mindset from that moment forward.

_I have these powers for a reason._

_I can help for a reason._

_These people are worth it. No matter what fears I may have, they are worth the effort._

For even though she’d been scared of humans for many years, she had spent more time seeing and documenting all the good, all the acts of kindness that she saw around her everyday.

Mrs. Wilkins always brought cookies over to her apartment after her grandkids had come over and miraculously there were some left over.

Ally the receptionist always made sure to let her know if she’d already seen Cat come by in the mornings.

Greg owned the hotdog stand she frequented in the park near CatCo and he knew her order by heart now and always greeted her with a smile.

Stephanie always made sure Kara had a blanket if she ever fell asleep at the DEO during a long case.

Humans were good and they were worth it. She told herself that every time another alien beat the shit out of her and she stumbled back to the DEO to where Alex were worriedly check her for a concussion.

She had to convince herself a little harder whenever the person she was stopping actually _was_ a human.

Particularly when they were intending to harm another of their own kind.

Humans are good. They are worth it.

+

Coming out as Supergirl afforded Kara a lot more opportunities than she’d had in several years. But there is one that she hadn’t even thought of until one night when she comes across a little alien boy, huddled in an alleyway not far from her apartment complex, doing his best to keep warm despite the rain and his lack of thick clothing.

He doesn’t look much older than five or six human years. Far too young to be out alone in the cold. Kara tries speaking to him in English first. 

“Hey. Hey buddy, it’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you,” she said, walking forward slowly, hunched over a bit to bring herself down to his eye level. _Calm, collected, approachable, one of the most effective things about Supergirl._

He just shivers more and pulls a bit further away, pressing himself into the corner of the buildings. 

She takes a step back, keeping her hands up and visible. _Just like with Streaky. Slow, careful, calm. Maybe English wasn’t the best approach._

She switches to the common tongue she remembers being used on Krypton when ambassadors and visiting would stay for dinner with her parents. It’s the first language that comes to mind, one of the few that she can still remember well enough to speak it.

The words are choppy and feel too big in her mouth, but she gets it out somehow.

_“Hey, little guy. My name is Supergirl. I’m here to help you. Are you alright? It’s a little cold for you to be out and about on your own. Are you lost? Can I take you home?”_

His ears perk up from under his jacket hood at the language change, and she notices just how big they are. Like an elf’s, Alex would have said. Kara smiles at that.

_“This isn’t my home,”_ he says, wrapping his arms tighter around himself. His voice is small and quiet, raspy. The cold has already affected him. 

But Kara’s heart skips a beat at the sound.

She knows that accent.

Nearly twenty years ago, Aunt Astra and her mother Alura had taken her along on a diplomatic mission to a planet in the system nearest theirs, Daitera. She’d heard that accent throughout the halls and corridors of the palace. It’s like something from a dream, a piece of her past that she’d long since given up hope on appearing before her. She can’t believe it. 

Kara quickly kneels down in front of him, bringing herself fully down to his level. She keeps her voice soft and warm as she tries again. _“What is your name? Where are you from? I think I know your planet.”_

_“I’m Eilo,”_ he whispers, still apprehensive. But the accent is still there and Kara can’t help from smiling. It’s so familiar and comforting all at once

_“Hello, Eilo. Is your home on Daitera?”_

His eyes light up a bit. They’re such a deep, beautiful brown. _Like chocolate_ , Kara thinks. _“Yes! That is my home!”_

She smiles even wider and if she’s not careful, she might start crying. It feels so good to be able to talk to someone in an alien language and not be viewed as crazy or weird. _“I’m from Krypton. I’ve been to your home! Many, many years ago, but still. Eilo, what are you doing out here? How did you get here?”_

Eilo’s eyes start to tear up and his lip starts trembling. Clearly, that was the wrong question to ask. _“I- I don’t know. I got lost. I don’t know where my mother is. Supergirl, I’m scared.”_

Kara stands to come sit beside him, murmuring words of comfort. He doesn’t flinch away this time, but huddles into her warmth as she wraps her cape around him.

_“It’s going to be alright, Eilo, I’m not going to leave you.”_ She hugs him tight. _“Now, is there somewhere I can take you? Are you here on Earth with anyone you know?”_

He shakes his head, wiping his eyes with dirt covered hands, smearing the tears and frankly making it all worse. _Okay, a bath is first on the list,_ Kara thinks.

_“Eilo, is it alright if I take you to the DEO? They’re my friends. They can help you.”_

Eilo’s eyes widen and he shakes his head vigorously. _“No DEO! No DEO, they’re mean!”_

_“Okay, okay, no DEO.”_ Kara worries her lip as she thinks. She’s never found herself in a situation like this before. Most people she finds out late at night are either drug addicts or homeless people with nowhere else to go, or criminals and shady characters up to no good. It’s rare that she comes across children out by themselves, let alone an alien child. 

There aren’t many options for where to take him, and if Eilo doesn’t feel comfortable going to the DEO, there’s only one other place she can think of right now. Just one that feels right. Just one where she’d know he’s safe. 

_Oh, Alex is going to kill me._

+

It all could be considered a foolish gamble by most, but Kara has always had a soft spot for children, and in this moment, all she can think of is Kal, and what if this had been him, cold and alone on a planet that is not his own. 

There’s no way she’s leaving Eilo out here all alone. And she doesn’t know many people she can trust with an alien child. Not many that speak his language. Or that aren’t connected to the DEO in some way. 

It takes some convincing, but somehow she gets Eilo to come home with her. When she suggests flying, his whole face gets three shades paler than it already was. Clearly, that is something they’ll have to work up to. 

And so she walks them to her apartment. Kara speeds into civilian clothes so as not to give away her identity to her neighbors, tells Eilo her name is Kara (Alex will most certainly kill her for that one. Secret identity right out the window), and offers to carry him. Eilo looks exhausted and still very cold, so he accepts with very little argument. 

It’s nearly 1 AM by the time Kara unlocks the door to her apartment, Eilo asleep on her shoulder. She rouses him long enough to ask if he’d like to have a bath, to which he nods. 

It’s once he’s in the warm bath water, happily cleaning away that Kara realizes she has no clean clothes for him. She takes what he has now, thin and ripped though they may be, and puts them in the wash. 

Eilo comes waddling out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around him like a cape just a few minutes later, clearly feeling much better. _“Kara, look! I look like you!”_

_“Eilo, hey!”_ She kneels down in front of him, giving him a quick inspection, remembering when her mother and Eliza would both respectively do this when she came home dirty and had been banished to the washroom until she’d cleaned herself. _“You look much better already.”_

He’s so small and adorable, it makes her heart swell with happiness, especially when he quietly thanks her and asks if he can have any food. 

_“Food? Eilo, you’ve come to the right alien,”_ she chuckles, steering the two of them toward the kitchen.

A full set of oversized pajamas and several pancakes later, Eilo is nearly falling asleep in his seat at the table. Kara has put together a pile of pillows and blankets that the two of them have deemed comfy enough for sleep. He's out like a light in just a few minutes, leaving Kara alone in her apartment, wondering how exactly she's supposed to explain all of this to Alex.


	2. i am your mother now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kara is the mandalorian and eilo is baby yoda. 
> 
> (also, this is gonna be an au set in season 2 ish time period)
> 
> repeat after me, kids: in this house, canon is optional. if we don’t like it, we don’t write it.

Step 1: Snuggles & Pancakes

When Streaky has been a common visitor of the Danvers household, Kara would often wake in the mornings to find him perched somewhere on her being or curled up next to her on the bed. So it doesn’t feel very foreign when Kara wakes the next morning to find Eilo curled up behind her, snuggled under her comforter, clearly using her as a space heater. 

It must have gotten colder in her apartment last night. Once again, Kara curses the invulnerability the yellow sun of Earth grants her. Changes in temperature usually don’t bother her, but if she’d known, Eilo wouldn’t have been at all uncomfortable last night. Not if she could help it. She pulls the blanket a little bit higher around him, tucking it in.

There’s sunlight streaming in through the windows, and the sounds of the city are the normal busy volume in her ears. Early, but not too early. Kara looks over at her alarm clock, being careful not to jostle Eilo too much, and sees that it’s just past eight o’clock, Saturday morning. And thank goodness for that, or she would have been late to work.

_Again_.

(Honestly, sometimes it’s a miracle she still _has_ a job.)

Staring up at the cracks in her ceiling, Kara begins formulating a plan for how to proceed with this.

She has to tell Alex; obviously. And if Kara doesn’t tell her, Alex will find out soon enough anyway. There really isn’t any hiding that she can do here. The big question is just when and how she tells her sister. And what exactly is her plan for Eilo? He can’t just stay here with Kara forever, can he?

_Does_ she want him to stay? She pauses her thinking and looks over at the softly snoring child. Instinctively, she reaches her hand out to brush his dark hair back from his eyes. Eilo leans into it as he sleeps, and Kara can’t help but smile. 

For a moment, she lets her mind entertain the idea that this might have been her life if she and Kal had arrived at the same time, if she had been given the chance to raise Kal as she should have. And it hurts, it _hurts_ that she’ll never get that. That her baby cousin is gone forever, and she lost her chance to continue the Kryptonian legacy. Clark is what she has now, and she loves him, but it’ll never be the same.

For now though, for this moment, being able to help someone is enough to ease the pain that always aches in her heart. For a moment, everything seems alright.

_Careful, Danvers. Don’t get too attached when you can’t guarantee anything. We’ll figure all this out later. Breakfast first._

Kara carefully extracts herself from around where Eilo has cocooned himself, grabs her phone and a sweater from her dresser and pads into the kitchen. She sends a quick text to Alex as she walks to the refrigerator.

**_Kara_ ** _: Hey, whenever you’re free today, I’ve got a little something I need to talk to you about. Kinda really important. Nothing to get too worked up over or send a SWAT team out for, just… important. Meet me at my apartment, okay?_

_(delivered 8:07 AM)_

**_Kara_ ** _: ...I may have picked up another Streaky..._

_(delivered 8:08 AM)_

**_Kara_ ** _: Anyway, love you bye!_

_(delivered 8:08 AM)_

Okay, maybe it was a few texts.

**_Alex_ ** _: (typing bubbles for several minutes)_

Kara screws up her face as she watches her sister go back and forth on whatever it was she’s going to say. _Oh, that’s not… awesome. Never good._ Nerves going a little bit wild, she busies herself mixing pancake batter while she waits for her sister to reply. Eilo seemed to really like the pancakes she made last night, so hopefully they’ll be just as good this morning.

Eventually, Alex finally sends whatever novel she’s spent the last ten minutes typing.

Only it’s not a novel.

**_Alex_ ** _: Kara exactly what does this mean???_

_(delivered 8:17 AM)_

**_Kara_ ** _: Please just…. Just come okay? It’ll be easier in person._

_(delivered 8:19 AM)_

**_Alex_ ** _: Well, now I super need you to explain everything._

_(delivered 8:20 AM)_

**_Kara_ ** _: Don’t worry, I will. Thanks Alex :)_

_(delivered 8:21 AM)_

**_Alex_ ** _: I can be there for lunch._

_(delivered 8:22 AM)_

**_Kara_ ** _: Hahaha you said “super” :)_

_(delivered 8:23 AM)_

**_Alex_ ** _: Don’t… don’t test me._

_(delivered 8:26 AM)_

+

Kara has six beautifully shaped pancakes browning on the griddle, ready to join the other six she has stacked on a plate, when she hears a loud thump from her bedroom. She drops the spatula in an instant and sprints into the bedroom to find Eilo in a pile of blankets on the floor, just a little bit stuck. 

He’s squawking in fear, pushing at the blankets to get them off from around him. 

Kara lets out a sigh of relief before laughing. Oh, Rao, she’d thought he’d broken something in her room. Or worse, something on himself. _“Little one, hold still, you’re just making it worse. Let me help.”_ Eilo stopped squirming and soon Kara had untangled him from her bedsheets.

_“Kara?”_

_“Good morning, Eilo,”_ she chuckles, kneeling in front of him. _“Are you hungry?”_

Eilo rubs the sleep out of his eyes as he nods sleepily. His hair is all mussed up and Kara gets just a little too much pleasure trying to tame it a bit with her hands.

“ _Well, how about some breakfast and then we can go find you some better clothes, sound good?”_

He nods again ( _guess he’s not much of a talker_ , she muses), and Kara takes him by the hand and leads him into the kitchen for pancakes. He’s still a bit timid, and she has to lead him over to everything, calming explaining that it’s okay, this food is for him and there’s nothing to be afraid of while she’s there.

The way he eats, sits, and looks around at everything with interest and a little apprehension makes Kara pause in her pancake conquest. She wonders how long exactly he’s been here on earth, who brought him here and how. She wonders who has mistreated him, who abused and scared him enough that he’s afraid to ask for things, that being here with her still carries some element of fear.

It’s enough to keep her mind busy that she doesn’t notice he’s finished until they’ve been sitting in silence for a few minutes.

_“Sorry, Eilo, I got distracted.”_ She smiles at him and picks up their plates. _“Let’s clean up and go get you some better clothes, little man.”_

Once the dishes are rinsed and put away in the dishwasher, she asks Eilo to sit on the bed while she gets his clothes from the wash (it makes her enormously sad that he seems to wait for instruction on nearly everything). He’s dressed in his now clean clothes from yesterday soon enough. Kara wants to be back before Alex gets there and all hell breaks loose. She speeds into some proper clothes herself before she notices that Eilo has put his hood up on his jacket. 

He’s covered his ears.

They’re the most prominent feature about him, and would definitely make him stand out in a crowd of humans. And he’s covered them up. Kara’s heart sinks.

_“Oh, Eilo, come here,”_ she murmurs, crouching down on her haunches in front of him. She gently reaches up and lifts his hood off. _“Eilo, your ears are beautiful. I know they don’t look like mine, or like the humans that live here, but you should never be ashamed of how you look.”_ Kara pauses, understand they still need to take things step by step. _“But, if you’re not ready to share them with the world, you don’t have to. It’s up to you.”_

Eilo gives her a small, shy smile and doesn’t make any attempts to replace his hood and Kara smiles back at him. Small steps. 

As they leave her apartment, hand in hand, Kara asks him one last question: _“Hey, little one, what’s your favorite color?”_

+

Three hours, two panic attacks (Kara lost Eilo for about thirty seconds in Target, the two of them nearly lost their minds), and several cute, but more importantly, functional outfits later, Kara and Eilo return to her apartment, shopping bags and ice cream cones in hand. 

(After a panic attack, ice cream is a must. Jeremiah always used to take her out for ice cream after a really hard ( _read: loud_ ) day at school. It's tradition now). 

Kara let’s Eilo sit on her bed again and lays out his clothes for him, making sure to give him full autonomy in the choice of what he’d like to wear today. His old clothes are very worn, littered with holes and stains, so they’ll have to go. He touches each article of clothing, checking the texture just like they did at the store, reminding himself of how they each felt. They’re almost all entirely blue (his favorite color) and that makes them relatively easy to match. He makes comments and Kara answers him patiently, even showing him some of her clothes.

It’s been so long since she’s been able to have a conversation in… oh Rao, what was this language called again? It’s been so many years she’s struggling to remember.

(She has to ask Eilo, and he giggles a bit before telling her it’s called Telvarian. She rolls her eyes at herself. She can speak this language even after all these years, but she can’t remember what it's called. Pathetic)

He finally makes a decision and Kara steers him into the bathroom to change. A moment to herself, she checks the time and sees it’s nearly 11:30 now. Alex should be by soon. With an inevitable lecture Kara knows she deserves but can’t bring herself to care too much about. Because her heart is lighter today than it has been in a while.

Kara unlocks her phone and scrolls through her messages, checking for anything new. Winn sent her a few memes that she laughs at, James took an incredible photo of the sunrise this morning and she responds with “ _show off ;)”._ Lucy sent her a selfie with her Strike team out in wherever it is they are, doing whatever top secret thing it is they’re doing and Kara sends back a smiley.

There’s only one other chat she’s interested in after that. 

Lena.

Lena Luthor. The biggest puzzle in Kara’s life as of right now. They shouldn’t be friends. They really shouldn’t. It’s like the whole universe is telling her to stay away while simultaneously making them meet at nearly every moment possible.

She finds Lena everywhere. She can’t seem to escape her. And frankly, she doesn’t want to. There’s something charming and calming about Lena that Kara finds herself slowly becoming addicted to. Interviews became coffee breaks that turned into lunches that have now become weekend hangouts and movie nights. Speaking of…

They have a movie night planned for Sunday night.

_Dammit…_

Kara turns her phone off, letting her hand bounce it against her knee while the other rubs her temple. Oh Rao, this is just getting more complicated. She’s going to either have to cancel, have Eilo stay with Alex (which is not the best idea because: language barrier), or finally pluck up the courage to tell Lena the truth.

And potentially lose her.

Eilo pops his head out of the bathroom door. _“Kara?”_ he says, a little smile on his face.

_“Come on out, bud, I wanna see,”_ she replies with a smile, setting her phone aside on the dresser. 

He steps out of the bathroom, decked in new shoes, shirt, pants, jacket, the whole deal. He looks absolutely adorable, and his grin widens when he sees hers.

(Kara almost started crying when he had tugged on her jacket sleeve at the store and pointed out a shirt that carried the crest of the Supers. “ _It’s like yours_ ,” he’d said, and how could she say no to those eyes. Kara wonders if he understands just what that means to Kryptonians. That by wearing the crest of the House of El, he has basically told everyone who his chosen family is).

Seeing it on him, she almost starts crying again, but manages to hold herself together.

He grins as she compliments him, and readily agrees when she suggests they go make lunch in anticipation of Alex showing up. He’s becoming more comfortable with her. She can tell from the smile in his eyes, the bounce in his step. 

_“Who is Alex?”_ he asks as Kara pulls sandwich fillings out of the refrigerator, setting them on the island.

_“Alex is my sister,”_ she says. _“The best sister in the whole world, and she’s coming over to meet you for lunch.”_

_“Is she nice?”_ He climbs up onto a bar stool to get a better view of Kara and the sandwiches.

Kara laughs, _“Yes, she’s nice, don’t worry. She’s very protective though, so as long as she sees how much I like you, you’ll be fine.”_

Eilo nods thoughtfully, and Kara hands him a plate and two slices of bread so he can begin his sandwich, explaining it along the way.

There’s a knock at the door, and Kara calls out, “It’s open!” expecting Alex.

(It’s most definitely not Alex.)

“Kara, darling, I keep telling you, I know you think everyone is good and kind, but you really need to lock your door. It really is not safe-”

Lena stops halfway through walking and talking, noticing Kara is not alone.

Time stops for a moment as they look at each other, the silence becoming suffocating.

“What are you doing here?” Kara squeaks out, remembering that she left her glasses by her bed. Rao, she completely forgot, she didn’t even put them on this morning _at all_. She was just so comfortable not having to hide around Eilo that the thought hadn’t even come up.

Lena’s eyebrows are furrowed in confusion, and she keeps looking between Kara and Eilo. She responds slowly. “What do you mean what am I doing here? I sent you a text. You left your laptop at my apartment yesterday, I’m returning it. Kara, are you babysitting?”

_“Is this Alex?”_ Eilo asks, completely oblivious.

_“No, this is definitely not Alex.”_ Shoot, she left her phone in her room on silent. _Sloppy, Danvers, very sloppy._

Lena goes from extremely confused to very interested in record time, picking out the only word she recognized from that exchange. “Wait, what about Alex? Kara, what language is that? I don’t know that one at all.” The gears in her head are moving so fast Kara can almost hear them over the beating of her frantic heart.

Oh Rao, this is it. This is the moment. She’s going to have to explain, right here, right now, her hands covered in sandwich mess and her sister minutes away.

“Um, Lena, I think I need to explain a few things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy i am having way too much fun with this


	3. wait so how many NDAs do we need?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what do you get when you give melody free time, motivation, inspiration, and many comments and kudos? more chapters, that’s what
> 
> everyone go thank @butimaloneandfree cause she’s the inspiration behind this project (she’s got her own fic that I absolutely love that you should all read)
> 
> ask and ye shall receive, @Shasta_Reese

“Kara, really, it’s fine. You don’t need to explain anything-”

“No, Lena, I do. I- Rao, I am _so_ sorry. I have to start with that, and if I have to I’ll apologize for the rest of my life.” Kara sighs, closing her eyes. Lena is silent, she’s still confused, and Kara wishes with everything she has that they’re going to be okay, that things are going to turn out okay, because Lena has in the short span of a few months become her best friend, and she honestly cannot imagine her life without her.

A prayer in her heart, Kara starts. “I- I’ve been lying to you, Lena. For our whole friendship. I haven’t told you everything, I haven’t told you the whole truth, and I know how you feel about lying, so I am so sorry, but I had to. I didn’t want to but I had to. I… I’m Supergirl, and-”

“I know.” The interruption is soft and Kara almost misses it.

“What?”

“I know.” Lena repeats as a smile grows, her face relaxing. “Kara, darling, you’re not exactly the best at lying. And your disguise is frankly... not the best.”

“But- wait- what? You… you knew?”

Lena laughs, and the sound is like music to Kara’s ears. _Could it really be this easy?_ “Kara, you first met me when you came into my office with Superman of all people. Honestly, I’m surprised more people in National City _don’t_ know. You’re not exactly subtle, either of you.”

Kara blushes furiously, embarrassed to no end. Which only makes Lena’s grin widen. “Okay, okay, you can make fun of me for that later, but I’m not done explaining everything.” Eilo is still sitting obediently on his bar stool. 

“Right, right, okay, I’m sorry,” Lena says, trying and failing to school her features.

“Okay, Lena, um, this is Eilo. _Eilo, this is Lena. She’s my best friend._ ” The switch from English to Telvarian is quicker than it was last night.

_“Who’s Lena?”_ Eilo asks.

“Eilo? How do you know him?” Lena asks, at almost the exact same time. “You don’t have a son, do you? Oh, my god, you have a son-”

“No, I don’t have a son,” Kara corrects hurriedly.

And it’s that moment that Alex walks in through the door, an incredulous look on her face. _Oh, of course she heard_ just _the last couple sentences._ Kara shuts her eyes tight, just hoping that maybe, just maybe she’ll wake up and this is all a dream. Please just be a dream.

Alex chews her lip for a moment, looking between Kara, Lena, and Eilo before closing the door behind her, very slowly. The agent clocks everyone in the room; Kara without her glasses, Eilo and his very conspicuous ears, and Lena still trying not to laugh.

“What... exactly... is going on here?” Alex asks, eyebrows raised.

Lena folds her arms, still grinning and looks over at Kara expectantly. 

Eilo, of course, has absolutely no idea what’s going on because English is a language he still doesn’t understand, so he pretty much repeats the same thing to Kara, but in Telvarian.

“Yeah, Kara,” Lena joins in, having to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. “What’s going on?”

Kara wishes one of her superpowers was melting into the floor.

+

“Wait, so how many NDAs do we need now?” Alex whines, rubbing her temples.

Everyone is now seated on the couch, except Kara, who has been pacing back and forth in front of the small party, explaining the whole situation. “Um, only one? I mean, Eilo is only- wait, _how old are you Eilo?_ ”

_“I’m five years old,”_ he says quietly.

“Yeah, he’s too young for anything legally binding to be necessary, so yeah. Just… just the one. For Lena.”

Lena waves sheepishly over at Alex from across the couch. Alex mutters something along the lines of “it’s too early for this,” even though it’s well past noon now.

“Okay, so what are you going to do?”

“What am I going to do with what?” Kara replies. Eilo is playing with the rubix cube that Kara handed him a few minutes ago, completely unaware of the conversation going on around him.

“Eilo. Come on, Kara, the stray you picked up off the street. What are you going to do with him? Because you sure as hell don’t have the time to watch a child on top of your job _and_ Supergirl, I know I don’t. J’onn doesn’t, James and Winn can’t either, Lena definitely doesn’t have time-”

“Fair point, but ouch,” Lena interjects, wincing.

“-and I know you’re not just going to let him go back on the streets because you’re a bleeding heart, and he’s got cute eyes. So, what are you going to do with him?” Alex finishes with a deep sigh, keeping her eyes on her sister despite the pacing.

Kara deflates, sitting down in the armchair nearest them. She started thinking of this in the morning but then she and Eilo got busy, and then Lena and Alex came, and nothing makes sense anymore. “I- I don’t… I don’t really know. But you’re right, I’m not going to leave him. I… I can’t just… leave him, I’d be doing the same thing Kal did to me and I can’t-”

“But he’s not _your_ family, Kara,” Alex said, scooting closer. “I know you care about him, but you don’t have the same obligation to him that Clark had to you.”

“And that makes it okay to leave him?” Kara asks incredulously. “No, absolutely not! I’m not leaving him. He’s scared, he’s alone, and he doesn’t speak the language. I’m not giving him up.”

Alex could see she was fighting a losing battle with Kara, and nods in resignation. “Well, I’m here if you need me. This is your choice, and I’ll support you. Even if I think it’s a little foolhardy.”

Kara smiles gratefully at her sister, reaching out for a hug which Alex returns quickly. “Thank you,” she murmurs into her shoulder.

“You’re a wonderful person, Kara. Never forget that.” 

“Thanks, Alex.”

The two of them pull apart, and only then do they notice how quiet Eilo and Lena have been. Kara looks over at her best friend and sees that she’s quietly trying to show Eilo how the rubix cube works, all without speaking as neither of them know the other’s language. Eilo is completely entranced by what she’s doing, turning each side this way and that to group all the right colors on each side.

Alex murmurs, “I’m going to head to have lunch with Maggie and then pick up an NDA from the DEO. Let me know where Lena ends up so I can get it to her soon.”

“Yeah, okay, I will.”

Alex leaves after giving Kara a quick kiss on the crown of her head, and Kara turns back to watch Lena and Eilo getting along without saying a single word.

Lena finishes putting the cube back in order in record time (something Kara rarely sits down to do) and hands the finished product over to Eilo, who carefully examines each side. He begins babbling in Telvarian, and Lena looks over at Kara with a panicked look, clearly put off by the fact she’s suddenly having a conversation she doesn’t understand. Kara starts laughing, but translates nonetheless.

“He’s wondering if you would show him how to do that again.”

“Oh,” Lena smiles, ruffling Eilo’s hair a bit. “Absolutely, would you tell him that?”

“Sure. _She said she’d love to_.” 

Eilo grins back at both of them, and starts to rearrange the cube so Lena can solve it again. 

“Oh, shoot!” Kara starts, and the other two jump. “We were going to have lunch!” She looks over at the sandwiches sitting on the counter, now soggy from the spreading. Much less appetizing than they were an hour ago. “I mean, we could still have them…”

“Or, I could order us some take out?” Lena suggests, pulling out her phone.

Kara looks over at their now room temperature sandwich fillings and back at Lena, who points at her phone screen, depicting the contact information of Kara’s favorite potsticker place. The famous eyebrow raise is compelling Kara to say yes, say yes.

“I mean, I can’t say no when you give me that face.”

Lena smirks and dials the restaurant, ordering Kara’s usual of an inhuman number of potstickers (which is more than Lena usual orders, but now that Kara knows that she knows…), Lena’s usual, and - after some input from Kara and Eilo - orders something for the little boy.

Kara gets Eilo set up coloring at the table as she calls. She returns to the couch as Lena finishes up and suddenly the two of them are left alone in the living room.

“So, uh….” Kara begins. “So, you know now…”

Lena nods, fiddling with her phone as she does. “Yeah, I know.”

“And…. you’ve known the whole time.”

Another nod. Lena’s not being very forthcoming, and while Kara is very glad that so far the situation is going much better than she had hoped, she’s worried there’s something Lena just isn’t telling her yet. Lena can be a good actress when the situation calls for it, and while she has seemed rather happy and carefree during this whole fiasco, there’s always a chance Lena is hiding how she truly feels. And Kara has been wanting to be truthful with Lena ever since they first became friends, and she wants Lena to feel like that goes both ways, that they can both be truthful with each other no matter what.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Why… why didn’t you ask me?” _Why did you let me continue to lie straight to your face when you knew how much it would hurt you? Why didn’t you call me out?_

Lena smiles, and it’s a sad smile. She won’t look Kara in the eyes and as the seconds pass Kara only gets more worried. Because this needs to be okay, _they_ need to be okay, or Kara doesn’t know what she’s going to do.

“It wasn’t my secret to reveal,” she finally says, looking up at Kara for a moment before looking away. “And besides, how do you bring that up? Hey, I think you’re an alien and you’re Supergirl, would you like to get some lunch?” She laughs at her own joke.

“I’m sorry. I really, truly, am sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, Kara-”

“No, it’s not. I lied and I hurt you and I don’t want you to just brush this off, as easy as that would be, I just…” Kara notices she’s pacing now. “I just need to make sure we’re okay, and if I have to, I’ll apologize for the rest of my life.”

“Okay,” Lena whispers, reaching out to take Kara’s hand and pull her down onto the couch next to her.. “Yes, Kara, it hurt that you didn’t tell me. But I also understand that it wasn’t something you owed me, your identity is yours and yours alone.”

Kara intertwines their fingers, giving Lena’s hand a gentle but grateful squeeze. “That really means a lot, Lena. Thank you.”

The moment is broken by Kara’s phone going wild in the other room.

Her work phone, the Supergirl one.

Kara dashes off the couch, swiping the phone off the dresser next to her regular one, hitting the answer button.

“Supergirl, we need you downtown. We’ve got a Maaldorian loose in the square,” Alex says quickly.

“I’ll be there.” Kara hangs up, superspeeds into her suit and is just about to fly out the window when she remembers Eilo.

“Eilo!” His head perks up from his coloring book at the table. Lena looks between the both of them, and Kara is struggling to make a decision. She just decided she wants to keep Eilo, to protect him until she can find the best possible place for him or they find his family, but now she has to leave. She has to go, and it’s just like what Alex said, she can’t always be there for him.

“Kara, it’s okay.” Lena’s voice breaks through her panic. “It’s okay, I’ve got him. You go save the day.”

_Oh, thank Rao for Lena_. Her heart is bursting with love, and Kara laughs in relief. She drops a kiss on both their foreheads before she speeds out the window, off to kick some alien butt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know what to tell yah, i'm on a roll for some reason


	4. someone please explain the logistics of adopting a child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara has almost no idea what she's doing
> 
> Maggie joins the story and is just as amazing as always (i miss her so much)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to everyone who comments and especially those that ask questions that prompt plot points in each chapter because i love you all and this story would not be what it is without you guys (this chapter has major kudos going out to @Rennat and @2rivers, luv yah babes thanks for pointing that stuff out cause I straight up didn’t think of it)
> 
> Also if you want mama Kara feels and want to cry about children you don’t have, go listen to Dear Theodosia from Hamilton because it has heavily inspired this story.

Kara still hasn’t made it back to her apartment until well after midnight. She is sore and bruising in ways a very select few aliens can affect her. She’s tired, and she’s grumpy, and Alex made her sit under the sun lamps for two hours before she let her go. They (read: Kara) had already had a discussion about how it’s only been one day and Kara has already had to leave Eilo with someone else to go do Supergirl things. And they’re currently having a discussion about any and all possible legal ramifications that could come from fostering an alien child, a very likely illegal one at that. 

“What am I supposed to do, Alex?” mutters Kara, trying her best not to wiggle on the sunbed even though she desperately wants to be pacing. “I mean, I’m pretty sure Eilo didn’t come here of his own free will, or at least that’s what I picked up from our conversation. And I don’t want to ask him any uncomfortable questions because he’s just a kid! He’s been through enough as it is!”

Alex is typing away some sort of report for the evening’s attack on her computer and merely grunts a reply.

“And who would I go to? Is this a DEO matter? Eilo’s done nothing wrong so I don’t think this is up your alley. So what part of the government should I check in with to make sure he’s legal? And that it’s okay that I take care of up until.. well, until we find his real family.”

“Uh huh.” Alex still hasn’t looked up, but neither has Kara, so she just continues on her anxiety ridden rant unhindered.

“And another thing: would adopting slash fostering an alien child put my identity as Supergirl in danger? Is Kara Danvers going to be under more scrutiny now? I mean, my disguise is apparently pretty fallible according to Lena, but maybe I should be taking into account just how smart she is in that equation...

“And  _ then _ , on top of that, there’s the matter of what he said when I first suggested bringing him to the DEO. He freaked out! “No DEO!” he said. What does that mean? Why is he scared of you guys?”

Alex keep typing away, but finally does add a proper verbal response to the conversation. “Kara, is it possible you’ve forgotten how closely linked to Cadmus this organization used to be? As much as we’d like to be known as a help, I think most aliens that have heard of us have only heard about Cadmus kidnapping and performing experiments on their kin. Not exactly the best reputation to have among our most frequent clients.” Alex shuts her laptop and walks over to where Kara is now sitting up from her sunbed. “Kara, you’re gonna be fine. I know you have more questions than we have answers, but it’s going to be okay.”

“But I’ve already had to leave him.” Kara feels the pit in her stomach opening wider. “I’ve been watching out for him for only a day and I had to leave for most of it. I- How am I supposed to do this? I  _ want  _ to do this, but… I’m worried I’ll just end up leaving him like Kal left me.”

Alex wraps her arms around her sister, pulling her into a tight embrace. “Oh, Kara. You’re so kind and good. You’ve already made a difference in his life, and even if you eventually have to leave him behind, he’ll always remember how kind you were to him.” She presses a kiss to the side of Kara’s head. “It’s going to be fine. But, about one of your other questions, do you want me to check with Maggie? See what she knows about aliens and taking care of refugees and all the legal stuff that goes along with it?”

Kara nods. “Yeah, that’d be great, actually. Tell her I said thanks.”

“I will. Now, you should probably head home and sleep. We don’t need you solar flaring again.”

“Right, yeah. This would be a bad time for it.”

“No kidding.”

+

“Hey, Maggie. Here’s a hypothetical question that, because you love me you won’t rat on me to the authorities for because illegal things may or may not have been done depending on your answer: If perchance a friend of mine would have come into the guardianship of an alien boy with seemingly no family on Earth or just has no way of finding them and is in both cases probably an illegal immigrant, what would you do with him?”

Maggie finishes taking a sip from her glass, giving her girlfriend a long glance before accepting the plate of pizza Alex is holding out to her. “Do with him? Like what? Danvers, this is really suspicious, I’m gonna need a bit more information.”

Alex busies herself with her own piece of pizza. “Like, who would they need to contact? What authorities are in charge of alien immigration and where can they find them?”

“Huh. Well, considering the “FBI” has to ask me, a lowly detective, that question, I’m guessing the Alien Refugee and Immigration Center down by the old Groves School is as well hidden as I’ve been told it is.”

“The old Groves school?”

“Yup. Aliens are still not very welcome here on Earth, but we have them anyway. The government wanted a way to help keep track of them but not put them too much in the public eye, so the center is kept rather confidential. But any and all cases involving alien immigrants should be taken there. They’ll handle it.”

“...can I get an address for that?” Alex asks the question very quickly and quietly and is already shoving pizza into her mouth before Maggie has a chance to respond.

Maggie narrows her eyes, watching Alex’s too innocent looks. “That question wasn’t very hypothetical, was it?”

“If I say yes, are you going to be mad at me?” she mumbles through a mouthful of pizza, a shy grin on her face.

“Nope, but tell Kara I said hi.”

Alex chokes on her food laughing.

+

She lets herself in through the window and finds the apartment silent except for the soft murmurs of a character on TV. She finds Lena sitting in the arm chair on her laptop, typing away furiously at some project and Eilo bundled up in blankets on the couch, a children’s TV show playing quietly on the screen. The whole scene is so domestic and adorable that Kara just stands there watching for far longer than is polite, content to enjoy the moment.

_ She could get used to nights like this. _

Kara shakes that thought from her head, knowing that dwelling for too long on dreams makes it harder to accept reality. The Black Mercy taught her that lesson a little too well.

But she can’t help it. Lena makes her feel like she’s the only person in a crowd of thousands. Lena had invited her to that fundraiser gala months ago, got the catering to be from Kara’s favorite Chinese restaurant, and when she saw both Kara and Supergirl, she had eyes only for her. Her eyes lit up like magic whenever they caught Kara’s gaze, and no matter what she did, Kara couldn’t keep from coming back to her.

Lena stops her typing, noticing Kara’s arrival and smiles at her over her shoulder. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Are you okay?” she whispers, careful to keep her volume low enough so as not to disturb Eilo. “You’ve been gone all night.”

“Yeah, sorry,” says Kara, shaking herself out of her stupor. “I should have called.”

Lena nods. “Yeah, that would have been nice.”

“Did I worry you?” Kara winces when Lena nods again, and she hides her face in her hands. 

“But you’re here now, so it’s okay.”

“I kept you up so late, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lena says, shutting her laptop and setting in on the coffee table. “I was going to be up this late anyway. This way I got to help you.”

Kara looks down at Eilo sleeping peacefully on the couch, his hair damp from a bath and all mussed up despite what she guessed was Lena’s attempt to comb it. She reaches out and smooths it down as gently as she can.

“I… should probably head home.”

“What?”

“It’s 1 AM. I need to rest. You do too.”

“You could just… stay,” suggests Kara. “We could have a sleepover.”

Lena laughs gently. “No, I shouldn’t push my luck. Besides, we’re still on for a movie night tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, of course, definitely.”

“Good. Then, I’ll take my leave now.” Lena gathers her things and slips her shoes and coat back on. “Before you get tired of me.” 

There it is again. No matter how far along they get in their friendship, Lena always seems to circle back to that. And it hurts, oh _it hurts_ every time she says anything like that, because Kara tries so hard and wants so badly for Lena to know just how much she means to her, how much she means to everyone around her. 

“I could never,” Kara insists emphatically.

Lena smiles shyly. They’ll be talking of this again soon, they both know it. “Well… Goodnight, Kara.”

“Goodnight, Lena.”

The door closes quietly behind her, and Kara listens to her heartbeat as she walks out to her driver and heads home to her own apartment.

The silence she’s left behind is uncomfortable. Kara wishes she had stayed.

But, the moment has passed, and so she changes out of her suit and deposits Eilo on the bed gently before lying down herself. Her mind takes a while to slow down enough to sleep.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have let it.

+

_ Quiet. _

_ So quiet. _

_ It feels like it’s always been this quiet.  _

_ It’s dark too. So dark, it’s almost tangible, like she could reach out and touch it. It’s suffocating. _

_ The phantom zone. _

_ She’s in the phantom zone. _

_ Oh, Rao, she’s back. How did she get back? Where’s Alex? Where’s Eilo? And Lena? How is she back in the pod?  _

_ She panics, the air around her getting thicker and it feels like the walls are closing in on her. _

_ No, not again. Not this. Not again.  _

_ Mom, why did you send me away? _

_ Why did you make me leave? _

_ The dark swallows her whole- _

Kara jerks awake with a scream on her lips. Her heart is racing and she’s covered in a cold sweat. Gasping breaths passing quickly past her lips as the dark around her begins to change, to shift into the calm, warm dark of an Earth night.

She can still feel the cold blackness of the phantom zone all around her. The quiet ringing in her ears like a roar. The sleep that she couldn’t seem to get out of her eyes from weeks after arriving on Earth. 

Curled up next to her on the bed, Eilo turns a bit in his sleep, her movement disturbing him just a little bit. Her breaths are coming quick and short, and if she’s not careful, this could turn into a full blown panic attack.

She rasps, clutching at her chest, trying to slow her breathing down. In. Out.  _ That’s it. Remember what Eliza used to say. What Alex would say.  _

_ You’re okay.  _

_ You’re here.  _

_ You’re awake.  _

_ You’re okay. _

Kara rarely trusts her strength in moments like these, and so she puts a bit of distance between Eilo and herself as she tries to calm herself down, bringing her mind back to the Kryptonian meditation her aunt taught her years ago.

In.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Out.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

Repeat. 

It's working, sort of. Alex isn't here, but Alex is _always_ here, but Kara doesn't want call her, not when she knows she's with Maggie. They need their space, and Kara needs to learn how to do this on her own. Alex won't always be there. 

But Kara has always been tactile, touch is a comfort to her, and so when Kara lays back down, counting quietly in Kryptonese, she reaches out to wrap an hand around Eilo's, pulling herself a bit closer to him.

She just needs to know he’s there.

That _someone_ is there.

She just needs to know she’s not alone.

+

Sleep doesn’t come for the rest of the night. 

But that’s okay.

She didn’t want to go back to sleep anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp, that was a bit shorter than the others, but that's okay
> 
> took a long weekend. hope you guys are having a wonderful Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! leave a comment or drop some kudos! it means a lot :)


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